President George W. Bush is back in Europe - in Britain at present, en route to the G8 summit at Genoa - seeking to make friends and to build alliances for his administration. But behind the fixed Texan grin, Mr Bush's intentions must herald ominous and disturbing prospects for Europe, and indeed for the wider world. As a preliminary to his meeting with the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, President Bush gave interviews to the BBC and to The Times of London. They make for sobering viewing and reading. There are no nuances or reservations in his bald declarations that the interests of the United States are paramount and will not be compromised by the requirements of other nations. If one were seeking for something positive in this it could at least be said that he is upfront with his intentions.
The Kyoto agreement on greenhouse gas emissions is simply wrong, he says. He does not accept the overwhelming and growing volume of scientific evidence from around the world (including the United States) confirming that global warming is being driven by man-made pollution. When it is put to him that the US is the world's largest source of emissions he responds with the reductio ad absurdum that, yes, the US is also the world's largest economy. And he adds uselessly that while he shares the objectives of Kyoto, he disagrees with what it seeks to enjoin his nation to do.
Today at Chequers, President Bush will seek to enlist the support of Mr Blair for his planned ballistic missile defence system. Russia, China and many EU governments have signalled their apprehension that an American ballistic missile defence programme will dismantle the existing treaty on ballistic missile control, encourage nuclear proliferation in unstable parts of the globe and spark off a new arms race. Mr Bush makes no bones about his intention. The United States is walking away from the existing treaty. It's "irrelevant", he tells the BBC, and it's for defence purposes only, he says, ignoring the reality that in the complex balance of Mutual Assured Destruction, offensive and defensive elements are integrated to a degree that makes such a distinction effectively meaningless.
Nothing would better suit the faltering US economy at this point than a commitment by the federal government to a massive programme of research, investment, and development for the missile defence system. It would kick-start the economy and stimulate key manufacturing areas of electronics, aviation and artificial intelligence. If other countries can be persuaded to become customers, buying into the system, so much the better.
It must be hoped that Mr Blair will decline President Bush's blandishments - which will undoubtedly include the prospect of economic benefits for Britain. If Mr Bush arrives in Genoa with Britain on board for the programme it will make it more difficult for other world leaders to argue the case for abandoning the scheme. The world has been free of the terrors of the nuclear arms race for more than a decade. It cannot be allowed to return to the conditions of darkness and immorality as an expedient response to America's economic difficulties.